Swimming pools lose a significant amount of heat and water through surface evaporation. To maintain a comfortable temperature in the pool, as well as to keep a relatively consistent water level, it is necessary to frequently add both water and heat to the pool. This can not only add considerable expense, but may also shorten the season during which the pool is usable. It is known to use a removable cover that functions as a vapor barrier to reduce evaporation. Similar vapor barriers are also beneficial for use with indoor pools, where evaporated water not only requires adding heat to the pool, but also produces humidity issues in the pool room.
One exemplary type of vapor barrier is formed of a type of flexible bubble wrap, similar in form to packing material. While useful for relatively small pools, the effort required to cover larger, competition-sized pools is problematic. That is, the covers are challenging to put on and take off as they often do not hold their shape or wind up “true”. And even if it is possible to evenly roll up a cover of such an extensive size, it is difficult to find a place to store the cover where it isn't an eyesore (and where it is protected when not in use).
Other types of pool covering have been developed. In one case, a plurality of individual, floating plastic pads is used, where a multiple number of pads are positioned on the surface (obviously, larger pools needing a larger number of these pads). Since they need to be individually placed and removed, their use is time-consuming. Again, these pads present storage problems.
Some systems utilize a cover that is attached to a pair of tracks that extend along the length of the pool, where the cover is moved via a cable-driven system to slide along the tracks and cover the pool. While effective, this type of configuration is obviously expensive and cannot be used on large pools.
Thus, a need remains for a relatively simple and efficient pool cover that may be quickly and easily placed on a pool and function to reduce evaporation and retain heat, using a system of covering/uncovering that avoids the various problems of the prior art.